<h1>Installing PHP and MySQL</h1>
<p>Trongate is a PHP framework. To write PHP code on your computer, you'll need a PHP engine and also a database such as MariaDB or MySQL. One of the easiest ways to get building with PHP is to use a local web development environment, like XAMPP.</p>
<p>XAMPP is a <em>downloadable web development environment</em>. In other words, it's an assortment of software that has been bundled together into a package that you can download and install on your computer. XAMPP includes (but is not limited to) a PHP engine by the name of Apache and a database by the name of MariaDB. There are a variety of XAMPP alternatives and also an assortment of other, more exotic ways to get PHP working on your computer. However, if you're just starting out or if you are eager to get up and running quickly and without fuss then XAMPP is hereby recommended. XAMPP is recommended because:</p>
<ul>
    <li>It gives you the latest (major) version of PHP <em>and </em>MariaDB<br> </li>
    <li>It's available for Mac, Windows and Linux</li>
    <li>It comes with an easy installation wizard</li>
    <li>It also comes with a handy database management application called 'PHPMyAdmin'</li>
    <li>It's 100% free</li>
</ul>
<p>You can download a copy of XAMPP from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.apachefriends.org/download.html" alt="here">here</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Mac Users:</strong> The makers of XAMPP have produced a "VM machine" and it has caused a little confusion for Mac developers. So, if you're a Mac user then there's a video for you that walks you through the whole XAMPP setup. The URL is: <a target="_blank" href="https://youtu.be/L2X6fDiqOC4" alt="https://youtu.be/L2X6fDiqOC4" class="on">https://youtu.be/L2X6fDiqOC4</a>?</p>
<p><em><strong>Please go ahead and get XAMPP (or something similar) now!</strong></em></p>
